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Che Guevara's Cloak of Invisibility

Updated: Mar 20, 2021

If the Wonderful World of Wizarding were real, what magical powers would you use?


Well, Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara used a cloak of invisibility as he enchanted the masses and inspired uprising across the world.


Information Systems Technology has given the strategic leaders of today many magical powers, but in the days of Global Information would Che still possess his superpower?



The Invisible Leader


By the 1960s, Che Guevara was perhaps the most notorious revolutionary in the world.


He was feared and revered; considered by some to be a “statesman of world stature.” His iconic portrait, entitled Guerillero Heroico, amongst the most influential of all time (Time, 2016). In the USA particularly, there was an almost compulsive anxiety about his actions and his followers. His infamy, in CIA circles, developed to that of ‘he-who-shall-not-be-named.’


But despite his notoriety, a certain degree of mystique followed him throughout his life. He was known the world-over, and yet there were times where he was able to disappear from public view and times where he used disguises to join rebellions on different continents. His death brought further intrigue, while the unseen impact of his ideas lived on.



Disappearance


Che was always a slippery and evasive character, much to the frustration of his enemies. But in the world of technology, would he still be able to cast a spell and evanesco from sight?


In Che’s early revolutionary days in Guatemala, he had to hide in the Argentine consulate after being marked for murder. During the initial revolutionary assault on Cuba, where 60 of 82 men died, the world didn’t know for months if he had made it out alive. Later in the siege of Santa Clara, Che was actually reported dead in the national news media (Time, 1960). In 1965, Che disappeared from public view in Cuba despite being the second-in-command. Months went by with mystery growing before Fidel Castro presented a farewell letter from Che, announcing his intention to fight for revolutionary causes elsewhere (Matthews, 1957).


In the 21st century we still see instances of powerful leaders vanishing either for personal reasons or to avoid persecution. In 2011, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez disappeared for almost a month without explanation, after undergoing pelvic surgery (Ralph, 2012). And of course, Osama Bin Laden disappeared after the September 11th attack on New York City, resulting in a 10 year-long manhunt (Glass, 2011).

Surprisingly, despite the incredible surveillance technology at our disposal, people are still able to go off-the-grid. What has changed is their ability to communicate in absentia. Chavez tweeted a photo of himself in Cuba to quell concerns about his wellbeing (Ralph, 2012). Bin Laden was still able to use flash drives to send emails without detection (Goldman & Apuzzo, 2011). This sort of instantaneous telecommunication is even more magical than a carrier-owl from Hogwarts. We can imagine how Che would have been able to use social media to gather support for his ideas, or how he would have used instant messaging services to work with informants. Today’s online encrypted communication would have only enhanced the capacity of Che Guevara to act as an Invisible Leader.



Disguise


Che was a paradoxical leader, spreading his beliefs through both dialogue and violence. To continue this approach, he needed to be able to hide in plain sight, with disguises and aliases. But with today’s levels of surveillance would it have been possible?


During the 1960s, Che was spreading his beliefs and fighting his cause in contrasting ways. On one hand, he was giving speeches to the UN, embarking on world tours, and initiating dialogue with world leaders. On the other, he was also battling in revolutions across the globe in the jungles of Africa and South America. In 1965, he travelled to the Congo using the alias Ramón Benitez to teach local revolutionaries about Marxist ideologies and guerrilla warfare tactics (Olmedo & Toro, 2014). In 1966, he joined rebels in Bolivia as Adolfo Mena González, a bald Uruguayan businessman with dental prosthesis (Sanches & Miranda, 2019).


History loves to tell the tale of infamous imposters; think of Frank Abagnale whose story was told in Catch Me If You Can, or Christian Gerhartsreiter who pretended to be a Rockefeller for decades (Nix, 2018). Some people seem to be able to cast a disillusionment spell and hide in plain sight. However, the ability to do so, while being pursued by global intelligence forces, is seriously reduced due to advances in surveillance technology.


Despite Che’s disguises, the CIA and NSA tended to be one step ahead at all times. In the Congo, he used transoceanic shortwave receivers but these communications monitored and intercepted with devices aboard technical research ships stationed on the Indian Ocean. The USNS Private Jose F. Valdez specialised in intercepting wireless communications and signal intelligence which was analysed by cryptologic technicians. The ship could then transmit encoded messages back to the US with an Earth-Moon-Earth communications system (Vulcano, 2020).


Technology is continuing to advance the power of intelligence organisations. Open Source Intelligence allows the general public to access vast amounts of unclassified information. Artificial intelligence is helping to gather and analyses ceaseless volumes of big data. Private organisations are developing technologies for automated language translation and digital imagery sensors (Hershkovitz, 2019). With such technology at the disposal of Joe Public and intelligence organisations, Che’s ability to hide in plain sight would be seriously hampered.



Death


Che was executed by Bolivian soldiers in 1967 and his body was put into a mass grave in an undisclosed location. But even with lost remains, his ideas remained. We see this type of posthumous patronage today, but how has technology helped to increase the impact of those from beyond the grave?

Right up until Che’s last moments, he was trying to spread his doctrine. On the morning of his execution, he asked to see the local schoolteacher. He explained to her that he was fighting to improve the condition of small schools like hers (Phillips, 2017). Following his death, Fidel Castro said “If we wish to express what we want the men of future generations to be, we must say: Let them be like Che!” Che’s self-written epitaph read “wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this our battle cry may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons.”


What followed Che’s death was a magical metaphorical resurrection. His legend grew and marches took place across the globe. Historian Erik Durshmied said that in those months “Che Guevara was not dead. He was very much alive.” Over the years he has been eulogised by leaders and philosophers, from Nelson Mandela to Jean-Paul Sartre. It is evident that Che was once again the Invisible Leader for the minds and hearts of millions.


Che's death was one of the first of its kind; having a global social impact. Technological advances and digital globalisation allow the world to mourn together. In the hours after Nelson Mandela’s death in 2013, up to 95,000 tribute tweets were being sent a minute (Best, 2013). In 2020, the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis led to civil rights demonstrations across the USA and the world. Maybe the internet is turning death into a social trend, a public display of grief without the true feeling of suffering (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2014). However, these instances provide an opportunity for reflection and education. One can only imagine how Che’s death would have been mourned, his books circulated, and his creed publicised in the modern era of social media.



By his very nature, Che was elusive and enigmatic. As a leader, he understood the power of invisibility. At times he made himself physically invisible, to protect himself and others. At times he used the invisible power of ideas, to make a change.


In many ways, becoming physically invisible in today's world is more difficult than in Che's time. The technological power of surveillance equipment and the vast reservoirs of information held by intelligence agencies mean that Che would struggle to evanesco from sight. Technology has obstructed the ability of his cloak of invisibility.


But on the other hand, instantaneous global communication has enhanced the way that ideas and movements spread. Che could have used social media to advance his objectives and communicate with comrades. In that way, technology today would have given Che the magical power of apparition, with the intangible power of thought.





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